


Longing

by Bunidesu



Series: Sportsfest '18 fills [10]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Gen, Kuroko deserved better, Sportsfest 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 12:18:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16174931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bunidesu/pseuds/Bunidesu
Summary: "You can hate a place with all your heart and soul and still be homesick for it."In which Kuroko remembers Teiko.





	Longing

**Author's Note:**

> [Prompt: ](https://sportsfest.dreamwidth.org/8539.html?thread=1016411#cmt1016411)
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> "You can hate a place with all your heart and soul and still be homesick for it." - Joseph Mitchell

Kuroko’s last year at Teikou was a nightmare, pure and simple. The graduation of Nijimura-senpai and coach Shirogane getting sick and retiring happening so close shook all of their worlds and caused something that was already slowly cracking to break entirely.  
  
Team became just a word that everyone else called them, they were nothing more than a group of individuals and that was all. Every match Kuroko spent more and more time on the bench sometimes not even leaving the bench the entire game. Not leaving the bench, however, would’ve been preferable than facing the ‘Genius Twins’ and getting knocked out.  
  
He still had dreams, has constant thoughts of ‘What if’ when it came to that match. What if he were a little more observant? What if he noticed the elbow coming to his face and dodge? Would they have tried again? Would they have given up trying to target him? There was no way that Teikou would’ve lost that match either way.  
  
The dreams only got worse when it comes to the Meiko match. This time it’s not even what ifs, it’s like he’s running on autopilot. Sometimes he’s on the bench and no matter how much he yells no one seems to hear him and he gets a first-hand seat to seeing his friends dreams crushed. Other times he’s subbed in and he can’t control his body, just watching himself as he contributes to destroying his friends will.  
  
He’d wake up in a cold sweat breathing heavy and looking over to his dresser, holding the picture of Seiren close, reminding himself that he’s not there anymore. Teiko didn’t have it’s cold claws in him anymore, it was replaced by the warmth of a team that saw him and loved him how he was. Once he’s calmed down and placed the photo on his desk without fail his eyes would go to the picture form Teikou’s second championship his desk.  
  
Nights like this always sent a pang of longing in his chest when he looked at that picture. Teikou broke him, broke all of them but it was also the reason why they met. The two years he spent with the miracles were the warmest he felt since Ogiwara, maybe even more so. Their nightly walks to the convenience store were his favorite, which all of them could play and joke around like the kids that they were. Times like that they weren’t ‘Teikou’s Miracle team’ or basketball geniuses, they were just six kids (occasionally seven when they could grab Akaashi from vice-captain duties) enjoying snacks with each other.  
  
Kuroko’s specialty involved watching people closely, noticing their habits and their tics, so while no one ever voiced it he knew that their trips meant just as much to all the others as well. An heir getting to relax, a model free from cameras, two boys confused by social norms aren’t bothered, a girl hanging around her crush and a talented boy growing too fast. He suspected the others knew how important these trips were to each other even if no one ever mentioned it but everyone tried their hardest to make sure they didn’t miss it.  
  
The warmth surrounding him in those moments made him realize they were more than friends, they were like the family that he never knew he needed. Maybe that’s why he tried so hard to reach them when they started to break, to have them like they were before. No matter how much you dislike your family at times if the love is still there you want to rekindle with each other. Nostalgia filled him and while it may have been four in the morning there was something he needed.  
  
**From:**  GhostBusters  
**To:**  BasketBoobs, FateSays, and KiraKira  
**GB** : Would you all like to go for ice cream later today after school?  
  
Most people would be asleep at this time of morning so he doesn’t expect to get responses so quickly.  
  
**KK** : of course!! I don’t have a shoot today so I can go after practice!!  
**FS** : Please save your messaging to normal hours. I may humor your request.  
**BB** :2 early bt k  
  
The warm feeling returns once more like an old friend returning home. Maybe next time Akashi and Murasakibara were in town maybe they could all go to the convenience store and get snacks.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to talk to me/ judge my life choices on [my tumblr.](http://takaokazunaris.tumblr.com)


End file.
